In this study, we aimed to evaluate this and to this end predicted that depression severity and coping motives for gambling would conjointly mediate the relations between insecure attachment styles and PG. Data came from a larger investigation of PG within mood disorders. Participants exhibited a lifetime depressive or bipolar disorder and endorsed a mood episode within the past ten years. Participants (N=275) completed self-report measures during a two-day assessment. Path analysis supported two main indirect effects. First, anxious attachment predicted elevated depression, which in turn predicted increased coping motives for gambling, which subsequently predicted greater PG severity. Second, this double mediational pathway was also observed for avoidant attachment. Results suggest that insecure attachment relates to PG via depressive symptoms and coping-related gambling motives. Mood symptoms and associated gambling motives are malleable and are promising targets of gambling interventions for insecurely attached individuals.
PMID: 29175293 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

As I have discussed in other articles, Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD) is a unique condition that is the result of suffering a series of traumatic incidents over a long period of time at the hands of someone the victim has a dependent relationship with, usually a parent or other primary caregiver. C-PTSD shares many features of the better known PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) which is the result of a small number of impersonal traumas, such as car accidents. However, it also has many unique features, which give it a dual nature, in some ways more similar to some personality disorders, or other disorde...

Although dual disorders (DD), addiction, and other mental disorders (MDs) are common in patients using mental health and addiction treatment services, they are not routinely screened for and diagnosed by most health experts. The aim of this article was to present the most relevant findings from the Madrid study on DD in a clinical sample from the Community of Madrid mental health and substance misuse service care networks. The sample consisted of 837 outpatients from Madrid: 208 patients from mental health services and 629 from substance misuse services. We used the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) to e...

CONCLUSIONS AND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: The presence of a psychiatric comorbidity can significantly affect adherence to buprenorphine. These trends illustrate the need for clinicians treating opioid use disorder with buprenorphine to screen for psychiatric disorders and monitor their medication adherence. There may also be opportunities to design interventions to help this vulnerable population adhere to buprenorphine and other forms of opioid pharmacotherapy. (Am J Addict 2017;XX:1-5).
PMID: 29143483 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

As part of my emotional and physical health I’ve drastically cut out processed foods, which includes sweets. For most of my life, sugary treats were an emotional salve. It was a socially acceptable way to deal with pain and upset.
After facing health challenges in my thirties, I had to make a decision-was I going to continue on this path of junk food and possibly cut my life short or find healthier ways to cope?
Since the birth of my children, I’ve radically change my view on food. I see it now as a form of medication, a healing way to “treat” my body and mind.
This weekend marks the beginning of th...

For years Gabe Howard teetered between a mania that made him “wild” and a depression that made him suicidal. When he was manic, he’d stay awake for days. He’d drink and use drugs. He’d take unnecessary risks. He felt invincible.
When he was depressed, he felt utterly worthless and alone. He constantly thought about suicide and even had a plan. “I wanted to die and believed that no one would miss me,” said Howard.
He was struggling with bipolar disorder and severe anxiety. Which he and his loved ones didn’t know. Instead, from childhood, everyone assumed that he had a behavior...

Conclusions Food addiction may be common in low and middle-income countries, though possibly less prevalent than in the US. Food addiction was associated with co-occurring mood disorders and skin picking disorder as well as with early life psychological and sexual abuse. Finally, food addiction was independently associated with broad reductions in QoL. Public health efforts towards the early recognition and management of food addiction are warranted.

Two breakthrough treatments for depression have been making headlines over the last few weeks.
One is ketamine — an illegal party drug called “Special K.” There is a legal use for it — as a heavy-duty anesthetic for horses!
Although it seems to work for some severely depressed people, the doctors prescribing it have no idea how or why it works, or what the long-term effects will be for the patients who take it.
What we do know is that chronic use of ketamine has been linked to cognitive impairment and bladder inflammation. Taking too high a dose causes hallucinations and temporary paralysis. A keta...